Clic Delle Venezie Rosso 2007

Italy - $8.99/btl

     So, a highly regarded winery in Italy is asked by a resort group to make them a killer red wine for cheap.  They make too much and with the economy being what it is, the resort doesn't take as much as they had promised.  So what happens?  The wine gets shipped to the U.S. of A and we get a fantastic, cheap wine.

     Ronco dei Tassi (or "Terraces of Badgers" -- terrifying sounding, huh?) is the winery behind this little beauty, situated in the gorgeous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region near the Slovenian border.  
     Enrico Coser, son of Ronco Dei Tassi's owner Fabio Coser, is the brains and talent behind this bottling.  Unless you've had Merlot from Friuli, you would not in a million years guess the varietal in a blind tasting.  This is 100% Merlot in its most rustic, earthy and balanced form.